1. Field of the Invention
The illustrative non-limiting implementation disclosed herein relates to a game apparatus which displays a game space. More particularly, the exemplary implementation disclosed herein relates to a game apparatus which displays an aiming point on a game screen, the aiming point being displayed when throwing a selected item towards an object in the game space.
2. Description of the Background Art
Games, in which an aiming point is displayed on a game screen, e.g., shooting games, are presently known in the art of computer video graphics games. In such a game, a player is able to take aim at an enemy character by aligning an aiming point displayed on the game screen with the enemy character. This makes it easier for the human player to shoot the displayed enemy character.
There is a class of shooting games which not only display an aiming point on a game screen but also change the displayed mode (e.g., appearance) of the aiming point depending on whether the aiming point is properly overlapping an enemy character or not (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-259686). This permits the player to know in advance whether a shot which he or she is going to make will actually hit the enemy character, and thus ensures more successful shooting.
Another conventional technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-84242.
In a shooting game of the above kind, where there is only one item (e.g., a gun) to be used by the player, there is no disadvantage in changing the displayed mode of the aiming point based solely on whether the aiming point is properly overlapping an enemy character or not. However, in a game which allows the player to select one of a plurality of items (e.g., a rope, a hook, and a boomerang) and throw the selected item at an object (e.g., an enemy character, a tree, etc.), such that different items will be effective on different objects, it may add to the confusion of the player if the displayed mode or appearance of the aiming point is changed based solely on whether the aiming point is overlapping an object or not.
More specifically, if the player has selected a rope (i.e., an item to be thrown at a branch of a tree which the player wishes to climb up) and the aiming point happens to overlap an enemy character which has suddenly emerged, the displayed mode of the aiming point will transition to that which indicates successful targeting. Then, surprised by the sudden appearance of the enemy character, the player may impulsively throw the rope at the enemy character based on the indication of successful targeting, before being able to change the item from the rope to (e.g., a boomerang) an item to be thrown at an enemy character with which the player wishes to attack. This might possibly invite a disadvantageous situation.